Rempel adds further fuel to potential leadership flame

Only 24 hours after starting a lively and unlikely debate with herself on Twitter around her possible bid for the Conservative party leadership, popular Conservative MP Michelle Rempel has taken to social media again — this time with a subtle swipe at Stephen Harper and the old ‘defensive’ ways.

“One of the things we need to do in order to succeed, however, is to not be afraid to take who we are as a conservative movement to Canadians in new and bold ways,” Rempel wrote on Facebook late morning Friday, which she linked from Twitter with the description, ‘On stirring the pot’.

“For years, we have become accustomed to playing defense because of perceived media bias. We have missed the fact that we consume information differently — social media is ‘social’ — information isn’t just consumed, it’s interacted with. In short, we need to play offense and be bold.”

“A spontaneous late night tweet stream was highly unorthodox. It flies against the culture of communications we’ve set as a party,” added Rempel.

This comes just over a day since a midnight Twitter tirade in which Rempel questioned whether or not she is too ‘brash, impetuous and abrasive’, adding that ‘good things come to those who wait’. She also brought up the very real problems she would face as a young woman pursuing leadership.

Rempel is not the only MP rumoured to be considering a run for the leadership. Others include Lisa Raitt, Jason Kenney, Diane Finley, Maxime Bernier, Kellie Leitch and Michael Chong.

“I’m not perfect. I am, however, willing to take risks because I have faith in the fact that we can re-inspire Canadians by doing so. Maybe I’ll mess up once in a while. That’s okay – I’ll let you in on a secret – your political leaders are humans, not robots,” said Rempel.

“On election night someone asked me what I was going to do next. I said, “I found my voice, and I intend to use it”. I hope many of you will too. Let’s rebuild this party and in doing so, build a better and brighter Canada.”